In case you haven’t already noticed, my posts have become a bit… ahem… sparse.

There are a lot of reasons, but mostly just because I have a lot going on right now, and not a whole lot of motivation to blog. I have other things I’d rather work on – my art, my poetry, and not to mention school work. Blogging has started to feel like a chore, and I don’t want that. I want it to be fun.

I’m not sure how long this break is going to last. Maybe a week, but most likely a month or two.

Music Monday is a bi-weekly blog link up to encourage the sharing and discussion of people’s favorite music. Join in to share your own music and find new songs to listen to! A new playlist theme will be posted every other Monday.

Theme & Announcements

Hey, it’s time for the seventh Music Monday! This time, I’m trying something different. Up until now, I’ve used a link up widget, but honestly, most of the people linking up actually don’t use it. So instead, if you link up, leave a comment on this post with a link to your own so that everyone else can find it! And don’t forget to share your thoughts on everyone else’s playlists, too!

Anyway, the new theme is “inspire”. It can be songs that pump you up (in case you missed the time we did Pump Up playlists), songs that make you want to actually try and finish that homework sitting in front of you, whatever you want, as long as it has something to do with inspiration!

Rules

This is a bi-weekly feature. New themes will be posted every other Monday. You can post your own playlist any time in between the day the theme is posted and the day the next theme goes up (it doesn’t need to be a Monday).

I make an album cover-y graphic for each playlist. You’re welcome to use mine or make your own, whichever you prefer.

If you want, you can post your playlist on Spotify, 8tracks, YouTube, or whatever else works for you, and link to that from your blog.

You may use whatever music you want, but if it contains explicit language, please mention that in your post!

This isn’t really required, meaning I won’t kick you out or anything if you don’t do it, but try to listen to and comment on a couple of other people’s playlists as well. The intention of this is to encourage the sharing of people’s favorite music!

Have fun!

My Playlist

Songs that make you ready to go out and change the world – and yourself in the process. Upbeat, “changing the world” tracks interspersed with a couple of darker, more introspective (but still inspiring) ones.

Don’t forget to join in with your own playlist!

Comics are amazing – they can be funny, quick reads, but they can also be deep and thought provoking. A good comic blends art and writing seamlessly, which can add tons of extra layers to a story. Although often regarded as immature stuff for kids, they’re totally fantastic, and everyone should at least give them a shot. That said, comics can be hard to get into – which is why I’m going to show you how over this series of posts!

Unfortunately, reading comics isn’t really the cheapest of hobbies, and they can be hard to find (especially if you live in a smaller town without a comic book store). But don’t worry – there’s always somewhere you can find them! In this post, I’m going to be giving an overview of some of the most common places to find new comics to read.

I want to read comics, but I don’t know where to get them!

The most common place to get them – and probably the place with the best selection – is your local comic book store, if you have one. You can look on Yelp, just Google your city and “comic book store”. If you buy from a comic book store, you’ll most likely get single issues (the little short, floppy books – more on this later), although your store probably offers trade paperbacks as well (again, more on this later). If you don’t have a comic book store, you can also try local bookstores and video and board game stores as well.

Pros: they’re usually the best place to find a newer series if you have something specific in mind, and if you want to start collecting, they’re probably cheapest as well.

Cons: it’s not cheap to buy comics, especially in single issue format, and you’ll likely be visiting the store pretty frequently if you’re trying to keep up on a series. Also, not all cities have comic stores.

But I don’t have a comic book store/ book store/ game store in my town (or I don’t feel like visiting them all that often)!

Another popular option nowadays is buying comics online. This is usually cheaper than buying paperback copies, and you can get them instantly instead of waiting! There are several services to use, almost all of them tailored to a specific company (so if you’re reading both Marvel and DC, or Dark Horse and Image, or whatever, you’ll likely need to use multiple services). It can also be a lot harder to get your hands on indie comics this way.

Pros: it’s easy, it’s (relatively) cheaper, and as long as you have a WiFi connection, you can do this anywhere from NYC to Antarctica.

Cons: it’s still not cheap, and digital downloads of comics don’t really have the collectability factor of paperbacks.

But I don’t have any money!

Fear not! There are still options. One that I use for almost all of my comic reading is the library. Often, libraries stock plenty of trade paperbacks, and although the selection can be pretty slim, the cost (zero dollars) is worth it. It’s also a fun way to find new series – there’s no risk if you don’t like the series, because you didn’t spend any money on it!

Pros: no risk, no cost, and usually a pretty wide selection that makes it easy to find new material.

Cons: it can be really hard to find a specific series, and you’ll probably have to file a request if you’ve got something specific in mind. You’ll also have to wait quite a while to read a new series – usually six months to a year after the first issue comes out. And you’ll likely only be able to find stuff by the big companies – Marvel, DC, and possibly Dark Horse and Image if you’re lucky.

Another cost free option is borrowing books from a fellow comic loving family member. There’s probably at least one person in your family who has a few issues of something lying around, even if you need to spend some time hunting them down (are they in the closet? the attic? who knows?).

Pros: it’s easy, it’s free, and it’s fun! Just like a treasure hunt!

Cons: it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find anything specific or new, and unless your family member is a major nerd, they probably only have a couple issues in a series at most. That said, it’s a great option for someone just getting into comics.

If you don’t read comics yet, which do you think would be the best option for you? And if you do, then where do you get them?

Read my other posts in this series:

Music Monday is a bi-weekly blog link up to encourage the sharing and discussion of people’s favorite music. Join in to share your own music and find new songs to listen to! A new playlist theme will be posted every other Monday.

Theme

Okay, everyone, welcome to the sixth Music Monday! I’m so happy that it’s gotten this far. I never really expected it to hit off, so thank you so much to everyone who’s participated! You guys are what makes this a success. Anyway, the new theme is dance. You all know the drill (or, at least, most of you) – you’re free to interpret this however you want. Take your own spin on things! Or, just go with the theme and make a playlist of your favorite songs to dance to – that’s great too. It’s all up to you.

Rules

This is a bi-weekly feature. New themes will be posted every other Monday. You can post your own playlist any time in between the day the theme is posted and the day the next theme goes up (it doesn’t need to be a Monday).

I make an album cover-y graphic for each playlist. You’re welcome to use mine or make your own, whichever you prefer.

If you want, you can post your playlist on Spotify, 8tracks, YouTube, or whatever else works for you, and link to that from your blog.

You may use whatever music you want, but if it contains explicit language, please mention that in your post!

This isn’t really required, meaning I won’t kick you out or anything if you don’t do it, but try to listen to and comment on a couple of other people’s playlists as well. The intention of this is to encourage the sharing of people’s favorite music!

Have fun!

Join in!

My Playlist

Anti party anthems and songs that are about really not liking to dance but okay maybe just this once. Perfect for dancing by yourself in your bedroom.

Don’t forget to join in with your own playlist!

So, I’ve been into Marvel for years now – since 2012, when The Avengers came out – but I’ve only been reading comics for a year or so, even though I wanted to start reading them a while before that.

Why, you ask?

Well, there were a lot of hold ups.

Comics are hard to get into, I’m not going to argue that. You have to figure out where to get them (more complicated than it sounds), and, even more importantly, what to read.

The first comic I read was Amazing X-Men #1 by Jason Aaron and Ed McGuiness. I was totally blown away; I loved it. The art was so cool, and I loved all of the characters involved. So I figured, why not just start reading more X-Men? I couldn’t go wrong with them, right?

Wrong.

The next series I picked up was New X-Men and I hated it. The writing was confusing and all over the place, and the art was super ugly (not to mention sexist).

I put it down and didn’t read comics again for another year.

But these days, I’m totally in love with comics! I have a few series (such as Captain Marvel, Black Widow, and Lumberjanes) that I love to the ends of the earth.

Comics are amazing – sometimes very deep and thoughtful, other times totally fun reads – and if you’re not reading them, you’re seriously missing out. But I do realize how hard it can be to get into them – which is why I’m putting together a series of posts on breaking in to comics! Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be discussing where to get comics, what to read, and more, so keep an eye out!

So, since it’s September and all, I figured now would be as good a time as any to wrap them up. Let’s see how much I accomplished (without trying to accomplish it).

Reading

Original goal:

This summer, I’d really like to branch out a little more in terms of what I’m reading, and also focus more on LGBT+ books, especially nonfiction. I tried to keep that in mind while creating my reading list, and in the end came up with a very diverse list, ranging from OCD, The Dude, and Me to 1984. I’ve also found some really interesting looking nonfiction, like a book about psychology (it’s aimed toward teens but not patronizing, which is nice) and some really cool books about the riot girl movement.

I actually read most of the books on my fiction list, and found some new favorites, including (but definitely not limited to) The Perks of Being a Wallflower and We All Looked Up. I also read some rad new comics like Nimona, Loki: Agent of Asgard, and V for Vendetta.

Unfortunately, I didn’t do terribly well with the nonfiction side of my list. I did read more nonfiction than I usually do – on topics ranging from colleges to art – but none of the ones that were on my list.

I also started reading more poetry this summer! I found to collections that I really liked, Please Excuse This Poem and Poisoned Apples. I’m hoping to read some more poetry through this school year because I never really realized how enjoyable it can be.

I’ve also signed up for the teen summer reading program at my library! I did it last year too, but joined late and was only able to participate in one of the activities. This year, it’s superhero themed, so I’m really excited (and a little nervous, admittedly, but I’m always nervous about meeting new people, so that’s nothing new). I know I haven’t been posting about it as much lately, but I’m still a massive Marvel fan!

I did this, and it was a lot of fun! I met a lot of new friends, (re)watched a bunch of my favorite Marvel movies, and found some really cool books. Plus, I’ve joined a YA book club and the library’s Teen Advisory Group, both of which are going to continue throughout the year!

Music

I’d like to learn a little bit more about my ukulele and teach myself a few more songs. As of yet I only know one, so it’ll be fun to learn some more.

I’m also going to start doing some extra chores to earn money for a guitar, because, I mean, the main reason I’m teaching myself ukulele is to get practice for when I have a guitar (I’ve heard that the ukulele makes good practice because the chords are very similar- same shapes, different names). Wish me luck!

But on the other hand, my brother got a guitar for his birthday. So even if it’s not technically mine, I have a guitar to play, at least until I’m able to save up enough money to get my own.

In terms of listening to music (as opposed to playing it), I’d like to branch out a little more. I really do have a pretty wide range of musical tastes, but lately I’ve been sticking pretty closely to my favorite bands and not really trying to find anything new. So this summer I’m going to be enlisting Pandora’s help in finding new music, especially some more punk rock. I’ve listened to a little teeny bit of the Ramones and Joan Jett, but that’s about it.

I listened to a lot of new music this summer, and I’m glad I did. Although I still have those special bands that are close to my heart (Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance in particular), I’ve fallen in love with a lot of new music as well, especially indie pop.

I think I’ll actually be doing a new Music Medly post soon, so keep an eye out for that.

Art

I’d like to work on my drawing skills a little, but I don’t really have anything in particular in mind aside from… well, draw more!

My mom found a really cool website called DIY that basically lets you work toward different badges, and it has a lot of cool project ideas that I’m going to try. If you want to see my progress/ what activities I’ve done so far, just check out my profile!

I spent a lot of time on DIY too, and it was soooo much fun! I’m going to try and keep up with it through the school year, but realistically I won’t be able to do as much as I did over the summer. If you’d like to see my DIY profile, here’s the link– it’s more up to date than the blog post and so it has a lot more of my projects included.

Writing

I don’t have a whole lot of writing-specific goals, but I would like to post more frequently on this blog and try to finish a short story I’ve been working on.

Well. On one side, I did to a LOT of writing. I had a story I needed to write so I could submit it to get into a writer’s workshop, which I poured hours and hours of work into- but then the workshop was cancelled. But on the good side, I do have a killer new short story! And a friend of mine and I are planning to hold some writer’s meet ups, so there is that.

I didn’t do very well posting here, but… oh well. I’m not posting as much, but on the good side, I feel a lot more relaxed about it, which has really improved the quality of my posts (at least, I hope…).

So, overall, it was a really fun summer! And I actually did pretty well on these goals, even though I didn’t even keep track of them, which I think is pretty impressive.

What did you do this summer? Did you get as much done as you had wanted to?

Select 15 other blogs to give the award to. You can’t nominate yourself or the person who nominated you.

Write a post to show off your blog. Talk about how your blog started and give a piece of advice to new bloggers.

Comment on each blog and let them know you nominated them. Be sure to provide a link to your post.

Provide a link to the original post on Edge of Night, so people can find the original rules if they need them. This will keep the award rules from straying from the original too much.

How this blog got started:

Well. My blogging journey is kind of a long story.

It all started in… sixth grade, I think? Sixth or seventh grade. So, about three or four years ago. Probably closer to four.

Anyway. In sixth grade (I’m just going to say sixth grade because that’s more impressive), I was obsessed with wolves. And when I say obsessed, I mean OBSESSED. I drew wolves, I wrote about wolves, I wore clothes with wolves on them, everything was wolves.

So, anyway. I wanted a place where I could talk wolves and share my thoughts, and my mom, a graphic designer (you can check out her super awesome website here!), had an idea – I could set up a blog! So that’s what I did.

I started with Blogspot (mostly because it’s simpler) and ran a blog… I think the title was Wolves for Kids? Something like that. It was a lot of fun – I talked about wolf related news, reviewed wolf related books and movies, you get the idea.

After a while, though, I started to get bored with wolves.

So I set up a writing themed blog, Noveling at Twelve (named because I was a twelve year old, not because I stayed up until twelve to write – my attention span was too short for that). It was mostly just little anecdotes and tips on writing, never anything more than a paragraph. It was fun, though. The posts were quick and, even looking back now, they were informative, even if not very detailed (at all).

I did have a big ego. But, I mean, it’s not like that’s unusual for me.

So I did that for a while, but then I got tired of themed blogs in general.

(Just FYI, Wolves For Kids was deleted, so I can’t link to it. Sorry about that!)

For a while, I dropped blogging altogether. But I had liked it so much, and I came to the realization that I didn’t want to quit. My next move was setting up a new blog, Nerds Inc, that I decided not to give a theme.

At first, I mostly used it as a Pinterest board kind of thing – it was usually just posts with “funny” pictures that I liked, almost always Doctor Who related.

Eventually, I realized that that wasn’t really what I was looking for either – I wanted a place to share my writing, and my thoughts! So I made another shift in theme, deleted all the old “funny picture” posts, and started writing more original content.

Finally, more recently, I realized how unhappy I was with Nerds Inc. The title, the url, and the options for customization on Blogger (which are pretty crappy) just weren’t what I was looking for.

So I FINALLY got to where I am now: Stay and Watch the Stars! It’s taken a lot of work, and it still isn’t even CLOSE to perfect, but for the moment, I’m happy with this.

Advice to New Bloggers

I actually have a few pieces of advice, because I’m cool that way.

First off: you’re not going to be perfect right away, so don’t expect yourself to be. Being a good blogger takes time and, even more importantly, work. It’s something that comes with practice, just like any other skill. And what works now will, if you’re anything like me, not work forever. So don’t feel bad if you need to, say, switch up the theme a lot, or take an extended break from blogging. You’ll figure things out.

YOU ARE PERFECT AND YOUR BLOG IS BEAUTIFUL SO KEEP BEING YOU

Second: interact with other bloggers! Unless you started blogging so you could scream into a void (which is totally fine), you probably want people to see what you’re writing. Whether that means follows, likes, or comments to you (each blogger sees this differently, I find), it’s not going to happen unless you put a little work into it. Interacting with bloggers is the best way to get attention. Follow blogs, like their posts, but most importantly, comment! Talk to people, start discussions, and they’re far more likely to return the favor.

SO DON’T ACT LIKE IT

Third, and finally: be open minded and nice to other bloggers, and people in general! Let’s say someone is raving about a book that you absolutely HATED. It’s fine to leave a friendly comment explaining why you didn’t like the book, but do it in a nice way! Don’t go to their post and be all like THIS BOOK SUCKZ AND ALL COPIES OF IT SHOULD BE BURNED AND HERE’S WHY, because that’s going to feel like bullying to the writer, even if that’s not how you intended it. Also, be open to new ideas! For example, if someone leaves a comment on one of your posts gently pointing out that a book you liked is SUPER racist, at least try to listen to their ideas. You don’t have to agree. I’m not saying you should listen to everything everyone tells you, because that’s absurd and impossible. But just keep your eyes and ears open to new ideas. People are always different, and by trying to see the world through someone else’s eyes, you may see something new and amazing (or horrible) that you never would’ve noticed otherwise.

so basically, don’t act like this

I’m not going to be nominating anyone for this – I’m sorry about that, but honestly I’m feeling really lazy right now and can’t think of fifteen blogs I want to nominate.